1. Technical Field
This document relates to control valves, particularly directional control valves, and couplers of the general kind that are used in subsea installations such as manifolds associated with subsea wells.
2. Related Art
A control valve of this kind comprises a body which has a plurality of ports, the communication between the ports being controlled by a valve member which may be in the form of a rod or spool and which is movable lengthwise, usually but not necessarily between operational positions. The control valve may be specifically a directional control valve in which a supply port is connected, in a manner dependent on the particular construction of the valve, to a ‘function’ port for one position of the valve member. The function port may be connected to a return or exhaust port for another position of the valve member. Preferably the control valve is operated by a solenoid actuator, the valve member carrying or constituting an armature of the solenoid. The valve member may have lip seals or shear seals that cooperate with the valve body in which the ports are provided. Control valves of this kind are described in GB-2344405 .
A coupler is employed to connect hydraulic lines. Typically couplers are provided in pairs, each consisting of a male or probe coupler and a female or socket coupler. It has been customary to mount an array of male couplers on a ‘stab’ plate for simultaneous mating with an array of female couplers on another ‘stab’ plate. In a typical construction the couplers of the pair each have an internal valve poppet which is lifted from its seat when the couplers of the pair are mated. The probe and socket usually have intermediate seals, which may be radial seals. Typical couplers are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,810,047, U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,070 and WO2007/045811.